International Women's Collaboration Brew Day is an annual event that takes place each year on

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

(8 March). The event gathers women brewers around the world who brew the same beer. All proceeds are donated to charity. It was established to raise awareness of women in the brewing industry, especially as beer brewmasters. It also networks women interested in brewing.

History

The idea for the IWCBD came from Project Venus member,

Sophie de Ronde Sophie de Ronde (born 1983) is a British brewer. She has been head brewer of Suffolk-based Burnt Mill Brewery since 2017, and previously brewed at Brentwood Brewing Company between 2007 and 2014. In 2019, she was named "Brewer of the Year" by th ...

, who reached out to the

Pink Boots Society The Pink Boots Society (PBS) is a non-profit organization with international membership which supports women and non-binary people working in the fermented beverages and allied industries. PBS started with women beer professionals and expanded that ...

in 2013 to start a "unified brew day." De Ronde wanted the day "to encourage women to brew together." The day was meant to coincide with

and would "raise awareness of women in the brewing industry and raise money for local charities and Pink Boots Society." Brewing beer is a male-dominated industry and is "struggling with

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

and gender bias." Another participant said, "I'd like to normalize the idea that women can and do work in the brewhouse along with other departments in a brewery." The first year, 2014, over 60 women in five countries brewed a

pale ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...

called Unite. In 2015, 80 women from eleven countries worked together to brew Unite

red ale Red ale can refer to two styles of beer which are some shade of red or light brown in hue: * Irish red ale * Flanders red ale Flanders red ale or Flemish red-brown, is a style of sour ale brewed in West Flanders, Belgium. Flanders red ale is f ...

. In

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela, helped organize the first IWCBD event in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. For 2016, the type of beer brewed was a

gose Gose () is a warm fermented beer that originated in Goslar, Germany. It is usually brewed with at least 50% of the grain bill being malted wheat. Dominant flavours in gose include a lemon sourness, a herbal characteristic, and a strong salti ...

. By 2018, the number of participanting breweries had increased to 126.

References

{{Reflist

External links

International Women's Collaboration Brew Day 2016
(video) Annual events Brewing March observances Observances about food and drink Women's events Women in brewing